Pyne, a history professor who fought forest fires for fifteen summers, writes like a master.
In their efforts to fight forest fires, the United States Forest Service and other agencies have long used infrared cameras on airplanes.
They were killed transporting a bomb near two fire helicopters that were parked on the hillside near Corte ready to be called into action to fight forest fires.
In 2000 he was piloting a six-seater plane which was blown off a runway in Lincoln, Nebraska; he has also volunteered to fight forest fires.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s the interests of forestry were served most imaginatively and thoroughly by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which planted trees, fought forest fires, and improved access to woodlands across the United States.
In "The Right Way to Fight Forest Fires" (editorial, Aug. 26), you correctly criticize the logging industry for wanting to cut down big fire-resistant trees in the name of fire prevention.
Ms. Morgan, 55, said her husband, Clay Morgan, a writer and former "smoke jumper" who fought forest fires, and her two sons, one a high school senior and the other a college freshman, have been supportive and understanding.
For instance, officials could send the aircraft up into the middle of the woods to fight forest fires, and have it fly into high winds without worrying about the loss of a human pilot.
The type and breadth of environmental information now available affects our quality of life because we are better able to fight forest fires, address erosion and illegal activities such as poaching and unauthorised mining, or identify which farm areas need water, fertiliser or pesticides.
More than 100 are now in operation around the continental United States — all four branches of the armed services fly them, and civilian agencies use them to look for lost hikers and illegal aliens, to fight forest fires and to conduct meteorological research, among other purposes.
